Friday, July 31, 2009

The more times we move in New York, the less we feel up to assembling yet another item of furniture from the eager DIY-ers at Ikea. The assembly-free Timber Table by Gus Modern is made of clear acrylic and etched to resemble wood grain, offering a playful departure from the standard side table. It’s unusual without being showy or overly designed. And it measures just a foot across, making it compact enough to fit into space-cramped studios (or your "cozy" Manhattan bedroom).

Friday, July 24, 2009

Glenn Ross, SFU alumni, achieved a Masters degree in architecture from UBC in 2001. While studying architecture, Glenn’s interest in design found its focus in modern furniture.

This, coupled with a passion for building, emerged as Vûrv Design, a small company specializing in both the creation of custom modern furniture and residential design.Glenn’s intention is to create warm, comfortable spaces within the context of the modern home. His furniture is influenced heavily by his background and training in architecture and strives toward the minimal, while at the same time retaining the warmth of handcrafted wood.

All their products are made in Canada, with the exception of the stainless steel bowls that come from India

Glenn lives in Coquitlam with his wife Cindy and his two daughters, Weijin and Jian.

They say that the devil is in the details. FLUF founders, Nathalie Butterfield and Terra Kushner, say it is equally true for style, great design and originality. In the summer of 2005, their shared vision to elevate one of the unsung details of the home, the lowly pillow, led them to create FLUF.

Since its inception, FLUF has fought to dust off the pillow’s reputation as your couch’s freeloader, and show the world what it is made of. The right pillow owns the room.

They made pillows for every type of interior from über-modern, stark minimalism to retro 80s post-punk angst, to lush velvety Oscar Wilde interiors, to relaxed country livin’, to shabby urban chic. Whatever their mood, whatever their style, people got it and joined the revolution.

The more modern pillows they made, the more they wanted to design their own fabric prints. There were a couple of reasons for this. First, their customers were always looking for fresh and original prints. Second, they were having trouble finding fabulous fabrics that were manufactured using sustainable materials and practices.

They launched their first fabric print, FLY, in the spring of 2007. FLUF’s fabrics are all hand-printed locally in small runs on chemical-free hemp and organic cotton, using water-based, biodegradable dyes.

Before starting FLUF, Nathalie Butterfield practiced law and Terra Kushner worked as a commercial designer.

Designing products that are as beautiful as they are useful, HERO is a Toronto based company founded in 2007 by Leo Corrales and Jenny Lemieux, who met during their post-graduate studies at the Domus Academy in Milan. The duo’s recently launched product line HERO 365, balances sustainability, aesthetics, durability, and function, re-inventing familiar objects as extraordinary products for everyday life.

HERO 365 takes a modern furniture approach to utilitarian objects, transforming them to fit nicely into the home environment. Their products are made in North America using recyclable materials, ship flat packed, and promote better habits in everyday living.

DwellStudio has more than just an incredibly popular bedding collection, although it is their bedding that they are most popular for. The company is known for reducing decorative design to its minimal and essential elements. The contemporary style of today is all about smooth lines and simple accents, which the design studio has put themselves at the forefront of. The detail is not in the form of loud prints or tons of colors. Instead, the company makes a name for itself by using the best high-quality fabrics, beautiful woven linen trims, and the finest tailoring. Not only that, but DwellStudio uses prints that are made with beautiful dyes that are low impact and fiber-reactive. The dyes that they use are formaldehyde-free and also meet all of the criteria for eco-friendly pigments. One of the most popular recent collections is the Botany Collection from 2008. Including Hedgerow and Thicket, this collection represents the company’s latest incarnation of their signature look and has been made to perfectly mix and match with many of their other bedding styles. Dwell Pin Dot Home Furnishings is a design house whose philosophy draws from a global style that envelops both modern pop culture and timeless classic luxury. This modern collection includes Dwell Pin Dot, which is a contemporary adult bedding line, DwellBaby, which is baby bedding and accessories for the little ones, and Dwelltable Pin Dot, which is a collection of mix and match table linens.DwellStudio is a design firm that was founded in 1999 by a lady by the name of Christiane Lemieux. This designer wanted to bring modern design in textile to the home, and she is the former design director for Portico New York. Portico New York is a luxury home furnishings company. She is also a former fashion designer for Isaac Mizrahi and the Gap. In 2000, Lemieux was joined by Jennifer Chused. Chused is a former managing editor of Room, which is a modern home furnishings catalog. She was also a fashion stylist for VH-1 Music Television as well. The most popular way to describe the designs of DwellStudio seems to include the words “modern” and “classic”. The young company is already known around the world for their modern take on traditional design that surrounds and decorates many different rooms in the home, and with those designs and home fashion statements they make, DwellStudio shows no signs of slowing down.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Don't miss out on the perfect time to buy your Gus Modern Sofa, Sectional, Chair, or Ottoman right now during our Gus Modern Summer Sale. Take 20% off your Essentials Collection Upholstery order. In Store or Online.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

BED HEAD Julian Tomchin peruses West Elm with help from Shanika Chabel, a manager.

Article Tools Sponsored ByBy ELAINE LOUIEPublished: January 7, 2009Image by Brian Palmer for The New York Time

WHEN it comes to bed linens, Julian Tomchin is a debunker of myths, like the one that says a 1,000-thread-count sheet must be of superior quality (not necessarily, he said) or the one that professes a pure cotton sheet can be wrinkle-free (don’t get him started).

At 76, Mr. Tomchin knows a thing or two about linens. He has been involved with them since 1979, first as the senior vice president and fashion director for home at Bloomingdale’s; next as vice president of creative services at Fieldcrest, both in New York; and then, from 1993 to 2002, as senior vice president for home-product development at Macy’s West in San Francisco, where he is retired.

“A bed is usually the largest piece of furniture in the bedroom,” he said. “What you put on it becomes a major decorating decision, which some people, including designers, prefer to ignore.”

Not Mr. Tomchin. On a trip to Manhattan in December, he visited several stores, sharing his philosophy about linens and thread counts. At Kmart, the Martha Stewart Everyday sheet, a 300-count solid-color cotton set, suited him just fine. So did two sheets at Macy’s: Ralph Lauren’s Cole Brook, a handsome 350-count cotton with green and cream stripes (he liked the woven look), and Calvin Klein’s Bamboo Flowers, a 220-count cotton in pale blue or hyacinth (“Lovely, lovely soft blue”).

It may sound like a relatively low count, but Mr. Tomchin prefers it. In fact, he advised, “Once you get beyond 400 threads per square inch, be suspicious.” The standard for counting is to add each warp (vertical) and filling (horizontal) thread per square inch. The most that normally fits, he said, is 400, after which the threads are thinner and weaker. Some companies use two- or three-ply threads and multiply the count. “An 800-thread-count sheet made of two-ply yarn should legitimately be relabeled as 400,” he said. “That’s how you get 1,000 threads per square inch: creative counting.”

Which wasn’t in play at West Elm, where he admired the minimalism of the 230-count Frayed Edge Organic Cotton sheets, in off-white. And when he saw the simple 300-count espresso brown sheets there, he felt at home. The reason? He sleeps on a set himself. Told it was free-shipping day, he did what any good shopper does: he bought another set.

One type of sheet gaining popularity these days is bamboo, which Mr. Tomchin praised for its softness. He found a set at Bed Bath & Beyond and took time to explain the process: “It’s a cellulose, and you boil the fibers from bamboo strips, pour it through a sieve, and what comes out is a yarn.”

Still, to Mr. Tomchin, nothing beats pure cotton. Once a bed is cloaked in it, he said, “I defy anybody to turn out the light and say one sheet is more comfortable than the other.”

Friday, July 10, 2009

I love how this boxy home looks like it was tossed to the ground in the middle of the Swiss Alps! Designed by Nunatak Sàrl Architectes, the home is covered in a slate exterior — a beautiful use of stone in this rocky part of the world!The subtle use of yellow in both the exterior and interior is genius — surrounded by mountains and vineyards, this house qualifies as a great escape!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Tasteful décor for any size bathroom just takes a bit of imagination, and if you have a very small bathroom it will also take some ingenuity. No matter what size your bathroom is, the first rule to having a nice one is to keep it completely clean. Some people like to use paint for the bathroom walls, which is a recommended choice when compared to wallpaper. If you have a small bathroom, be sure that you don’t use wall colors that are dark because this will dramatically make the room “shrink” in size quite a lot. Neutral colors and colors that are light are the best choices to avoid making an already small bathroom appear minuscule. If you have a window in your tiny bathroom, do not use curtains as a covering- this will again make the room appear smaller. Instead there are adhesive sheets of “frosted” transparent paper that can adhere right to the glass, and there are also adhesive sheets that look like landscapes of different kinds. These are becoming more popular than ever to provide a different kind of look to bathrooms of all kinds no matter what size they are. The great thing about these things is that no one can see inside your bathroom from the outside, but plenty of sunlight is allowed to come into the room.Since small bathrooms will have neutral or light-colored walls, to add color to the room you can count on accessories to do the job. Towel bars, soap dishes, little accents and pictures are all great ways to help add color to the room. If you prefer not to keep towels on the walls, they can be put in a pretty basket in a corner of the room for a cozy, neat look. If you have a small bathtub, consider using one of the curved shower curtain rods to add a little more elbow room in there for showers. The shower curtain should be light-colored with few details and smaller patterns to help with the “larger” look as well. Use over-the-door hooks for towels and bathrobes to hang on to keep them off of the floors.Although it might be more difficult in a smaller bathroom, using bright green plants can change the entire look of a room instantly. Even if you add a small plant to the corner of the sink or on the back of the toilet it can really help. If you are going for a more modern look, stick more with plants and less with flowers. Flowers, it seems, are losing their place in décor when it comes to the modern and contemporary look. Many people also use candles as accents, and they can be lit quickly to add a nice aroma not only to the bathroom, but also to the entire house. Don’t forget to add some of those candles to the corners of the bath tub, too!

Decorating and re-decorating your favorite bedroom in the house can be both a stressful task and an enjoyable one- and the trick is to have the joy outweigh the anxiety, of course. While some people seem to just have a natural flair for re-decorating, others of us have no clue where to start or what to do first. Here are some tips to help you along your way to having a fabulous bedroom.First of all, do not ever underestimate the power of lighting. Lighting can change the entire ambiance of any room faster than almost anything else. If you are lacking a lot of natural lighting in the room, you can opt for bright artificial lighting. If you have ample natural lighting and are looking to create a more cozy, warm look, the softer white bulbs in dim wattage do the trick.Next, since the bedroom is such an intimate space and part of the house, many people find that it is a suitable place to keep and display their most personal items. Instead of hanging an impersonal picture on the wall, gather some trinkets that have sentimental value and place them in a shadow box to hang. Some people prefer to stick to specific themes for each separate box while others create a collage of memories in them; the choice is completely yours!Going along with the same importance as lighting is color. Color can not only change the look of a room but it can also change the appearance of the size of it as well. Light colors in cool tone make walls appear to recede, and deeper tones bring in the walls for a cozier feeling to them. To help a small room appear larger, the last thing you want to do is stuff it with lots of things and big furniture. Keep it simple, keep it clutter-free, and you’ll be able to enjoy as much of the floorspace in a small room as you can.Neutrals with nice, crisp accent colors define the contemporary design of bedrooms today, and crisp, clean prints that are not floral prints can really help modernize the look of a room quickly and with little effort. Plush comforters, duvets, high thread count sheets and amazing pillows and prints all combine to make bold statements that beds need to make. DwellStudio is one company that has made a huge impression on the fashion world not just for their modern bedding, but for their clothing lines as well as items for the home. Do not be afraid to try new things! You never know how something might suit you until you try it, so be bold!